English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin defensare, defensatum (to defend diligently), intensive of defendere. See defend.

Noun edit

defensative (plural defensatives)

  1. (archaic) That which serves to protect or defend.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “defensative”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)